Music Review Archives. Band Stuff. Work Stories in Progress.

Check out some of the ExMogul Music reviews from the archives, below.

I reviewed music on and off for about 15 years, while I took a break from singing and doing gigs.


Now I've flipped that around. And here's my band, SPEED LIMIT 70.


January 3, 2009

The Great Unwashed


Hailing from three of the five NYC boroughs, The Great Unwashed capture the raw energy of nights at CBGB and The Continental back in the day. Not from NYC? Look up the history of those venues and you'll get the picture.

Winter Classic
starts with guitar feedback and a driving drum beat. No filler here - the vocals start right in: "you're the strangest person I ever met" - and get right to the point. The song is an upbeat punk-edged pop song highlighted by half-spoken vocals and bouncy bass lines not unlike Michael Stipe and Mike Mills' signature sounds in R.E.M. A "jam band meets 90s-era college rock" musical lead and outtro finish out the song nicely. No words clutter up this section of the song, yet the song never feels like it needs to be over before it actually ends. Red Delicious has a more typical vocal treatment, and brings jangly rhythm guitar to the mix. Some quirky time signature sections in the middle give this song a nice twist. The song never loses its drive, and adds some interesting vocal chorus elements. All Night Breathing has an element of The Police in the mix, probably owing to the tight rhythm section of bass and drums, especially in the break between verses. I keep hearing "Walking on the Moon" during this part. I Am a Speck of Dust turns up the noisy guitar distortion, giving the song an old punk vibe (ala MC5, Ramones, Patti Smith Group) , yet hangs onto The Police rhythm section. A nice 60s-era guitar lead, with its chorusey effects (think "Eight Miles High"), brings another really good ingredient to an already tasty song. Mirage a la Mode has a screamed vocal treatment which detracts from the song. This song has some swirly guitar, nice time signature changes, melodic bass lines and a great drive.

The Great Unwashed has some great tracks on its myspace. Check them out: http://www.myspace.com/thegreatunclean